Hans Seidler

From the outset of WW2, Goring's Luftwaffe Flak units saw extensive fighting with their 2cm, 3.7cm and deadly 8.8cm anti-aircraft guns. By the time of Hitler's invasion of Russia, Luftwaffe ground forces had been expanded and were being used in both the army support and air roles.After initial success on the Eastern Front turned to stalemate and huge losses, Hitler ordered the raising of Luftwaffe Field Divisions to bolster the Army. These were initially under Goring's command but in late 1943 were handed over to the Army and reorganized as standard infantry divisions (of three two-battalion rifle regiments) retaining Luftwaffe designations. The most famous was the elite Hermann Goring Divisions, which was reorganized as a Panzer Division.By 1944 there were no less than twenty-one Luftwaffe Field Divisions plus many similar regiments, fighting on all fronts. Of all German anti-tank weapons, the ...

Divisions

1st Luftwaffe Field Division
2nd Luftwaffe Field Division
3rd Luftwaffe Field Division
4th Luftwaffe Field Division
5th Luftwaffe Field Division
6th Luftwaffe Field Division
7th Luftwaffe Field Division
8th Luftwaffe Field Division
9th Luftwaffe Field Division
10th Luftwaffe Field Division
11th Luftwaffe Field Division
12th Luftwaffe Field Division
13th Luftwaffe Field Division
14th Luftwaffe Field Division
15th Luftwaffe Field Division
16th Luftwaffe Field Division
Eventually transferred to the Heer as 16th Luftwaffe Infantry Division (later 16th Volksgrenadier Division)
17th Luftwaffe Field Division
18th Luftwaffe Field Division
19th Luftwaffe Field Division (later 19th Luftwaffe Sturm Division)
Eventually transferred to the Heer as 19th Grenadier Division (later 19th Volksgrenadier Division)
20th Luftwaffe Field Division (later 20th Luftwaffe Sturm Division)
21st Luftwaffe Field Division (previously the Meindl Division, an ad hoc collection of Luftwaffe resources)
22nd Luftwaffe Field Division - never formed, its sub-units were assigned to other divisions.
 

The Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann ...

This division was formed in December 1942, initially with two three-battalion infantry regiments, one antitank battalion, one artillery regiment (three battalions) and an engineer battalion. The division was moved to the Netherlands in February 1943, where it remained until the allied invasion.1

In November 1943 the division was takem over by the army. It was reorganized into three two-battalion infantry regiments and a Füsilier Battailon was formed.2

The structure of the division looked like this on 1 June 1944.3:

All infantry battalions had 56 machine guns and eight mortars (8 cm). The AT company of each infantry regiment had six guns. In the 31. Rgt. they were 7,5 cm, while the other two regiments had 5 cm guns. Also each AT company had three 2 cm Flak guns and 18 Panzerschreck.4

The Panzerjäger Abteilung had the following equipment5:

1. Kompanie: three 5 cm guns and ...

Sicily 1943

Operation 'Husky', the Allied invasion of Sicily, commenced on 10 July 1943. Surrounded by Italian units, most of which were of third line quality and only too happy to surrender, the 'HG' Division and the Army's 15. Panzergrenadier-Division fought well, despite coming under devastating fire from Allied naval vessels offshore; they even managed an initially successful counter-attack at Gela in the south of the island. They held their line tenaciously, but despite reinforcements - in the shape of 29. Panzergrenadier-Division flown in from mainland Italy, and elements of 1. Fallschirm-Division from France overwhelming Allied superiority saw the Germans being pushed inexorably north-east towards Messina. The 'Hermann Göring' provided rearguard cover for other German units being evacuated to the Italian mainland, and was indeed one of the last elements to leave Sicily. Despite the heavy fighting in which it had been involved, and the intensive Allied bombing of the ...

Units of infantry formed from Luftwaffe ground personnel, of whom there were many due to the Luftwaffe’s independent control of air base defenses, anti-aircraft artillery, and prisoner of war camps. The main reason for the odd choice to create Luftflotte infantry divisions was that Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring did not wish to surrender any authority over his men, despite the extraordinary need of the Wehrmacht for reinforcements and the poor performance of the Luftwaffe in homeland defense. The new units were unusually poorly trained and ill-equipped, and proved not very battleworthy. Casualties taken by “field divisions” were heavy, and the units often broke while in action.

The figures for German personnel in the west vary enormously: Müller-Hillebrand, Das Heer, iii. 174, puts the total army contingent (incl. Luftwaffe field divisions and Waffen-SS) at 746,000 on 1 July 1943 and 892,000 on 1 July 1944; OB West reported a ...

The first Luftwaffe ground combat units were formed in the winter of 1941/2 for fighting in Russia. The units were quickly formed in response to the overwhelming losses of the Wehrmacht earlier that winter, that resulted in German retreat. Sometime in February, 1942, Brigade Meindl was consolidated for combat on the Northern Front in Russia.

On the 17th of September 1942, Goering issued a proclamation for the institution of the Luftwaffe Field Divisions. By the end of 1942, Luftwaffe Field Divisions 1-22 and Field Corps I-IV were assembled and placed under control of the Heer for deployment on the Eastern Front. In order to train these former Airmen, the needed instructors were transferred from the Heer to the Luftwaffe.

By this point in the war, the Heer was in dire need of combatants while the Luftwaffe had a surplus of men. While it would have made more sense to ...

"When Barbarossa opens, the world will hold its breath" – Adolf Hitler

The opening stages

June 22nd 1941, saw the opening shots of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s long awaited offensive in the East. A campaign that was estimated would take 8-10 weeks to complete.

In the early hours of 22nd June six thousand Artillery pieces signalled the start of the conquest of the east. Three army groups poured into Russia on a 1500 km front. The Luftwaffe destroyed the Soviet air force on the ground within the first few hours. The Panzer divisions rolled east supported by the Luftwaffe. Mechanized infantry followed, clearing pockets of resistance.

Army group North (General von Leeb) was to pass through East Prussia, the Baltic States and ultimately Leningrad on the Baltic coast.

Army group Centre (General von Bock) was to strike eastwards toward Minsk, Smolensk and eventually Moscow.

Army Group South (Field Marshall von Rundstedt ...

1942 Moscow - so near yet so far

Kampfgruppe Sturm held their sector along the River Mius into the first weeks of 1942, during the worst winter so far in the 20th century. They held out against numerous Soviet assaults. Further in the North the situation was worsening. Kampfgruppe Meindl was formed from the 1st Battalion, Assault Regiment under the command of Major Walter Koch, parts of the Artillery Regiment and the Regiment HQ. This small force was sent to an area near the town of Vyasma, 95 miles east of Smolensk.

Kampfgruppe Meindl was joined by splinter groups from decimated SS and Wehrmacht units who had taken heavy casualties in earlier fighting. The Soviet High Command then switched their attacks to the sector held by the 2nd Regiment on the River Mius, near Yuknov. Kampfgruppe Meindl was rushed southwards to bolster the 2nd Regiment. They arrived in time to hold ...

Extract from the memoirs of the Eastern Front by Wolfram von Beck

On 9th November 1943, General Student came to see us and on a sports field near Rome he issued orders for us to move to Russia. The next day we boarded a train from Rome to Zitomir.

When we finally arrived in Russia, we received orders to relieve a Waffen SS unit, which had almost been destroyed during the fighting. I was the staff runner for Leutnant Bickel’s 1.Kompanie. He told me to go and obtain a situation report from the Waffen SS commander. In order to reach the SS command post quickly I decided not to use the road but to follow the sound of guns through a wooded area. When I finally reached the commander he reprimanded me about the absence of my unit. He then showed me which part of the frontline we ...

1945 The end is nigh

By the beginning of 1945 the Red Army was poised to conquer Germany. Hitler still preached victory but the situation was deteriorating and victory was not an option.

Only two Fallschirmjäger formations were to fight on the ever shrinking Ostfront. (A favourite saying of Berliners in the first months of 1945 was "soon you'll be able to take a street car from one front to the other").

The 9th and 10th Parachute Divisions were newly raised formations and both were under strength, manpower being at an all-time low.

The 9th was ordered to an area outside the town of Stettin on the Baltic some 100 miles north east of Berlin. The division did not come together as a whole until 8th April, as fragments of its regiments had been fighting on the east bank of the Oder since their inception in January. The Division ...